"As I guessed, it's sealed," Cori murmured, his expression twisted in disappointment as he gazed at his status. Now he was sure that the duchess had some form of skill that bestowed skills, sealed skills and possibly released skills.
"Hey Cori! What's got your attention?" shouted a familiar voice, breaking Cori's concentration. He turned around to see Sam walking towards him with a stack of documents. And behind her, Cori could see a different set of scrolls striking the same dragon-kin in the background.
"Do you need a hand?" Cori asked raising his paws, hoping to divert his thoughts from his personal concerns.
Pleased by her thoughtful junior, Sam replied, "Thank you for the offer, but it's part of my training. I should handle it for my own development. As my dad always says, laying a solid foundation is crucial for long-term success."
"Your dad sounds wise... By the way, did those scrolls have something against him?" Cori remarked, glancing in the direction of the dragon-kin.
"It's a long story... just let me finish this first! Argh!" Sam huffed as she struggled under the weight of the hefty documents. After passing several cubicles with Cori, she finally reached a glass door. Placing the folders on a nearby table, Sam paused to scan her iris by the door. "Stay here; you don't have the security clearance yet," she instructed, before entering the room with the pile of folders.
As Cori waited patiently, he surveyed the area, pondering if each cubicle represented a distinct department. An empty cubicle, with a broken clay tablet, laying lifeless on the table. Intrigued, Cori made his way over to take a closer inspection. A mysterious feeling burned within his heart urging him to fix it, with his sticky paws, he delicately pieced together the broken fragments.
"Stop!" Sam shouted in horror.
However, it was too late... the tablet had returned to life and begun humming at a high frequency. "Obeservation!" Cori shouted sensing the precarious situation. System, " Token of Toohak - a key when injected with spiritual energy open the interdimensional prison at a specific location. Mana is needed to close and deactivate." Cori immediately poured in his mana onto the tablet, successfully shutting down the ancient mechanism. The clay tablet returned to its dormant state, laying innocently on the table.
"Do you realise how dangerous that was?" Sam scolded in frustration, simmering anger evident in her voice.
"I... I didn't know. I thought I could fix it," Cori replied, his body weighed down with guilt.
"You're fortunate it stopped at all. Who knows what could have happened. Can't you manage to stay still for five minutes? Is it really that difficult?" Sam snapped.
Observing the genuine remorse in her junior, she found herself unable to persist with her scolding. "I was just worried you might end up getting yourself hurt for nothing. Just refrain from touching anything without asking. There might be consequences you're not prepared for," Sam sighed as she hoped the incident would not lead to anything major. "The least that could happen is a curse like the one on that dragon-kin. His nails were too sharp and hard, and he ended up cursed after handling a heap of fragile papyrus. Everything here possesses some level of intelligence or magic. Just be more cautious next time, Cori," Sam advised empathetically. "Here, here's a list of Masters and people who potentially could be Masters. And these are my recommendation letters," Sam offered, hoping to brighten his day even slightly.
"Consequences like death?" Cori asked as he received the list and letters with gratitude.
"No, no one got killed," Sam said whispered. "We don't talk about deaths here, don't get yourself into more trouble then," she cautioned and asked if the duchess knew anything about the Masters.
Cori told Sam that the duchess had already sent the recommendations. But there might be other conditions to be fulfilled. "So who is your Master?" Cori inquired as they strolled to the Colosseum.
"Kareem, I'm still learning from him. Would you like to shadow me today? We can sort out your things in the meantime and maybe see Kareem in action." Sam offered.